Malcolm Rifkind was born in Edinburgh into a Jewish family from Lithuania.[1] He first became a Conservative MP at the February 1974 General Election for the constituency of Edinburgh Pentlands. He was first made a cabinet minister in 1979 and served constantly through 18 years of Conservative government.

His cabinet posts included:

Minister of Home Affairs and the Environment at the Scottish Office (1979 - 1983)

Minister of State at the Foreign Office (1983 - 1986)

Secretary of State for Scotland (1986 - 1990)

Secretary of State for Transport (1990 - 1992)

Secretary of State for Defence (1992 - 1995)

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1995 - 1997)

At the 1997 General Election, Malcolm Rifkind lost his seat to the Labour Party. He tried but failed to regain the seat at the 2001 General Election and re-entered parliament in 2005 as the MP for Kensington. Rifkind left parliament in 2015.